Animals

Review: Shark Week

June 29, 2016 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

I have to tell you about this wonderful resource I was sent by Raincoast Books. It’s called Shark Week by Martha Brockenbrough. This book is named after the Discovery Channels very popular Shark Week.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is so full of interesting facts.
Did you know that there is a shark almost as long as a school bus?
Or conversely a shark only about 10 inches long? I know amazing isn’t it, the differences?!?!
How about this fact… not all sharks breathe the same way and some can switch how they breathe?
Or another that lives in volcanoes?
And this interesting fact… some sharks can have babies WITHOUT mating!!!

I know.. it’s fascinating isn’t it!?!?!! 🙂

Full colour images.

Sufficient text to give good information without being too succinct. In-depth information without information overload…just enough to make a person want to look deeper. Learning about sharks that live in a volcano led me to look for more information.

Interesting facts, with a good break in the text, pictures fitting with what the text is talking about.

Facts to amaze and astound, like comparing the great white to the kodiak bear.

Shark Week runs around 150 pages, teaches more about sharks than you might believe possible, I was SO fascinated, and I think you will be too. Imagine..shark week.. in your own hands to enjoy for much longer than a week.

From learning about the prehistoic Whorl Shark, to how sharks hunt, breathe, reproduce and where they live. Learning how much they are the same to each other, and yet how different they are as well.

This book is for every shark fanatic who
wants to get even more up close and personal. Now you really can live every week like it’s shark week.

Feiwel ; Friends
Author: Martha Brockenbrough
8.99 x 10.92 · 160 pages
Ages 9-12 years
Shark Week: Everything You Need to Know

Review: Let’s Explore Series

June 13, 2016 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

You know how sometimes you get a book to review and you think to yourself…man, I wish I had these when my (insert child’s name) was into these types of books?

Well that was my response when I received the Let’s Explore books from Lonely Planet Kids. The books are Let’s Explore Safari, Let’s Explore Ocean and Let’s Explore Jungle.

I love these books.
Seriously.
I wish I could do them but.. I’m too old AND I’d rather save them for younger hands than mine to work through.

They are NOT cookie cutter books. You know, when you get a series and you can pretty much say what’s going to happen from page to page? Not so with this series… different puzzles, different facts, different ways of presenting the information, it makes them interesting.

Each book open with Marco and Amelia about to head out on a new adventure.

Then through a series of sticker pages, puzzles and activities the reader is led to learn a variety of information about the safari, jungle or ocean.

The pages are bright and colourful, drawing the eye in.

There are over 250 stickers in each book with plenty of pages to put them. Where the stickers are put is not dictated, leaving the user free to place them wherever desired. In the back of the book there is an answer sheet which is great if one gets stuck on one of the puzzles or activities.

The stickers are, for the most part, great for smaller hands, but also interesting enough for older hands.

Let’s Explore… Jungle (Lonely Planet Kids) by Lonely Planet Kids (2016-02-16)
takes us into the jungles of South America learning about the flora and fauna.

Let’s Explore… Ocean (Lonely Planet Kids) by Lonely Planet Kids (2016-02-16)
learning about sharks and other oceanic life, drawing a seahorse and more.

Let’s Explore… Safari (Lonely Planet Kids) by Lonely Planet Kids (2016-02-16) takes us to the plains of Africa where we can explore the big five, visit Victoria Falls and more.

Geared for ages 5-8, Lonely Planet Kids has done a lovely job of helping children learn more about the ocean, jungle and safari. They have done up a number of other books as well, be sure to check them out. Rainforest Books graciously sent me these three books so that I could give you my honest review.

Just in case you missed it, I think these books would be a lovely addition to any house with younger children.. sticker, puzzle, learn as you work the activities. So much colour and fun to be had.

He picked it up on his own, The Deadliest Creature in the World

May 19, 2016 By Annette1 2 Comments

My lad can read, and read fairly well, but pick up a book just because? He generally doesn’t just pick up books to read unless something about them intrigues him mightily.

This morning a breakfast my lad saw this book “The Deadliest Creature in the World” sitting on top of my review pile and picked it up and was reading it over breakfast. Now I don’t know about you.. .but that’s a win in my book.

Book Synopsis:
A heart-stopping touch, a powerful punch, a killer kick….WHICH creature is the deadliest?
YOU Decide.

My thoughts:

Other than the obvious.. MY BOY IS PICKING UP A BOOK AND CHOOSING TO READ IT INSTEAD OF messing around on his tablet!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!

It’s draws a child in and I LOVE IT for that.

It also provoked discussion.
“Mom, they shouldn’t have included this one. This frog doesn’t attack people. If they get poisoned it’s because they are trying to it. So he’s not so deadly, he’s just being protective”.

“An ostrich!!?!?!?! MOM!!! They have an ostrich in here!!!!!”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Mom, did you know there’s a fish that has really poisonous spines?”

Filled with colourful pictures that depict the animals well and an easy to read large font this book is sure to be a hit with your children as well. They will be equally as fascinated as we were by the Cone Snail that can change it’s venom according to the prey it has caught. I tell you, this book is interesting. 🙂

I like that at the closing of the book the author says this
“But what about creatures that are fragile or teensy or slow? What about the ones with no arms or legs? They have been surviving for …. years with the help of toxins and poisons.” It leaves the door open for children to research for other deadly animals of the world, and consider some they might not even have thought of.

To get you started in your search for dangerous or deadly animals, check out these top 25.

Raincoast Books generously provided me with a readers copy of this great picture book. It’s a soft cover book of about 30 pages, written by Brenda Z. Guiberson, and delightfully illustrated by Gennady Spirin. See also my review of another Guiberson book, The Most Amazing Creature of the Sea.

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To download a worksheet based on this book CLICK HERE.

Review: Class Pet Squad

April 26, 2016 By Annette1 4 Comments

You know the show Wonder Pets?
If not, check this out:

Classroom pets that prove to useful and have a variety of adventures.

If your children like that show and/or that type of story, let me introduce to you Class Pet Squad: Journey to the Center of Town. From the moment I started reading this book I thought….ooh.. what’s that children’s show that my son used to watch. Hubby supplied the name after thinking it through for a while. 🙂 For this review I received a soft cover readers’ edition book, courtesy of Raincoast Books. This book was written by Dan Yaccarino.

My son, age 10, is beyond the level but oh.. it’s a nice little easy chapter book for children and their parents to enjoy.

There are several things that I like about this 134 page easy chapter book.

It’s loaded with pictures. In my copy all the pictures were in grey-scale. I am told “final interior will print in two-colour”. But for your young readers, the pictures nicely help to tell the story.

Not only are there tons of images throughout the book, it is also printed in a larger font, making it easier for the reader to follow the story well.

Isn’t that a great font size for younger readers? Makes it so much easier to read. My 10 year can read smaller print, but I find when he’s reading a book with unfamiliar words he likes to use a magnifying glass to increase the font size. So having a larger print size for early reader books make SO much sense to me. 🙂

Other than the “nice to have stuff” what did I like about the book itself?

First off the characters grew and changed, it wasn’t just an adventure story, but a story of listening to others and choosing to make better decisions. Learning to see the needs of others and not just the larger picture.

Secondly I liked the determination, to despite the odds against them, to finish the task set before them.

At the end of the book a new friend was made who helped them out of an unexpected conflict.

It was a good little book, animals on a mission to help someone they feel responsible for. Simple fair for your early chapter book readers.

Social Media Links for Raincoast Books are as follows.

First Full Length eBook – Learn to care for your Pet Rabbit

April 19, 2016 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

To get this free ebook Click HERE.

I’m very thrilled to have produced my first full length ebook.

Wanted to share it with you all. 🙂

Review: Mercy, The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh

April 14, 2016 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

I have to admit that I am not a fan of the animal rights movement. BUT this story of Henry Bergh was quite interesting and eye-opening. Horses, pigeons, cows, dogs, bears and more. Henry Bergh took abuse upon abuse in order to work for the lives of those ill-treated. Mercy, the incredible story of Henry Bergh is aptly named… one who shows mercy to animals.

Anyone who has read Black Beauty is aware of the plight of carriage and work horses…how easy it was to abuse these horses, and then to replace them. Dead horses hauled out of the city daily. Horses beaten and forced to pull loads too heavy for them to bear.

I wasn’t aware of stray dogs being captured for a days work.
I wasn’t aware of how folks thought they went made in the summer, so hundreds upon hundreds of dogs were destroyed over people’s lack of knowledge.
The information about the dairy industry horrified.

I grew up on a farm.
Raised in a God-fearing household where one learned that God gave us dominion over the earth, which comes with a great deal responsibility to care well for the world we live in.. including caring for the animals that surround our lives.

Henry Bergh stood for showing kindness of animals. That was it. That’s ALL it was. BE KIND to animals.He didn’t turn the ASPCA into the PETA driven movement it is today. He wanted the animals that are part of our society cared for and railed against unwarranted abuses.

He understood the practicality of working animals, but he didn’t want them to suffer unkindness when they were working for us.

He was eventually convinced to turn this helping animals into also helping the children. He considered them to be little animals.

This book is filled with colour plates. And I have to admit, it was rather neat seeing some of these old cartoons. He really was vilified throughout his life. But interestingly enough, when he died he was revered for his concern for the animals.

It also does cut outs to information mentioned in the book. Like Louisa May Alcott.

It was a decent read. Not sure that I would have children read it (as sensitive readers may be horrified by some of the scenes), but if you were wanting to do a unit of study on the ASPCA, it would be a good book to read to help prepare you.

Product Details
Received: Advance reviewers copy
Title: Mercy, The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh, Founder of the ASPCA and Friend to Animals.
Author: Nancy Furstinger
Pages: 175
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books